For The Love of the Game
by High Rhulain
Summary: SEQUEL to Alley Oop. Sasuke and Sakura are off to college...and a whole new set of problems unfolds! Sasuke's got a plateful with the Kishimoto University team, a pedophilic coach, his girlfriend, and a fraternity named Akat Tsu Ki... SasuSaku
1. Parting Ways

"I don't want to go," she whispered, her face buried on his shoulder. His arms were clasped tightly about her shoulders as he held her to himself.

"I know," he repeated, trying to soothe her tears. But though he would never admit it, he was close to tears himself at the thought of leaving her.

"Promise you'll call me," she sobbed. "Write to me, email me, talk to me."

"I will, babe, I will," he murmured, knowing he would keep his promise until the day he died. He didn't know what he would do without her.

From down on the road, the driver impatiently honked the horn. "Come ON, nee-chan!" Damien's impatient voice called. "We're gonna be late!"

With a tearful sniff, Sakura took herself out of Sasuke's strong grip. It was difficult for both of them; he never wanted to let her go. It seemed only yesterday that he had fallen to the floor, bleeding from his shoulder where a bullet had punched through it, knowing that she had saved them all. But that had been three years ago, she had been his ever since.

"Wait," he said, trying to hold her back from the inevitable. Sakura turned to him, her eyes filling again. For the last time, Sasuke enfolded her into his arms and kissed her gently, deeply, filling himself like a gas tank with her scent, her presence. It was all he would get for the next three months.

The door behind them opened and Sakura's mom came out, fussing with her purse. She saw Sasuke holding Sakura's hand and kissing her like he never wanted to stop and simply smiled. She hated to break the couple up now, but it really was time to leave.

"Sakura."

Sasuke gently released her lips. He stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Take care, my beautiful cherry blossom," he said softly as Sakura's mom passed by them.

"Thanks for helping me get my stuff into the truck," Sakura said, mopping her eyes. "I'll really miss you, Sasuke-kun."

She held his hand as long as she could, until the length of the stairs down from the front door forced him to release her fingertips. Sakura climbed into the car along with her mom and brother and buckled up. Sasuke came down the stairs to her house as the car pulled away. Sakura rolled down the window, turned around, and waved for as long as she could see him. Then the car rolled around a corner.

Sakura was gone.

And he was empty.

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**Here's the start to your sequel! More to come! **


	2. The Burning Scar

"Ready to go, Sasuke?" his mother called down the stairs. Sasuke was standing at the bottom of the staircase in his huge house, tossing his keys impatiently.

"Mom, I've been ready for at least half an hour."

Mikoto came down the stairs, clutching her purse. "Alright, Sasuke-kun, dear, let's go."

Mikoto and her remaining son were headed to Kishimoto Univeristy, Sasuke's college of choice. Or rather, college that had recruited him. Sasuke had been one of the top draft picks for the basketball season, and Kishimoto had offered him a full scholarship for his basketball skills. It was something the Firestone High basketball star couldn't resist. It was almost a one-way ticket to the Fire Ninja: the pro team Sasuke had always dreamed of playing on.

Sasuke's things were all loaded into the car; his room stripped bare from everything he could ever want to take to his dorm in college. As they climbed in, Sasuke's eye caught the uppermost box, which was labeled 'Odds and Ends'. On the top sat an old orange ball with a black scrawl on the front. Sasuke smiled as a memory from the first time he met Sakura came flooding back.

_The first rays of sunlight came through the window and fell on Sasuke's dresser. Sakura's eyes lit upon the basketball perched there._

Why not?_ Inner Sakura said. _It's not like he's coming out…

_Sakura crept over to his dresser and lifted the basketball. She quickly found the autograph which Sasuke had prevented her from reading last time. No wonder it had been familiar. Sakura's eyes widened as she read the autograph:_

Haruno Saki

_Sakura nearly dropped the ball. So Sasuke was a fan of her dad's! But then why had he protested when she had pinned up the poster of the '93 Fire Ninja? It was all very strange…_

"_I thought I told you not to touch my stuff!"_

_Sakura spun around, eyes wide in horror. Sasuke had emerged from the bathroom, wearing only his pants, his towel around his neck, catching the water from his dripping hair. He dug in his drawer for another shirt and tie._

"_Stupid cleaners…forgetting to pick up yesterday's stuff…" he muttered. Sakura inched away, thinking she could leave before he noticed. Sasuke didn't even turn around._

"_Don't move."_

_Sakura froze. _

_Sasuke finished getting dressed with his back to his roommate. Really, this guy was starting to get on his nerves. He'd said CLEARLY not to touch his stuff, and this dude was just all into it!_

"_I…I'm sorry," he heard Sakumo stutter in that girlish voice of his. "I was just wondering who signed your ball. I…I didn't mean to…"_

"_Hnn. Forget it." Sasuke waved a hand over his shoulder. "Go away."_

_He heard the door open and close as Sakumo left the room._

"Hnn, I'll miss her," Sasuke said, looking back up at his house.

"I'm sure the house will miss you, too," Mikoto said sweetly, climbing into the passenger's seat. "It'll only have me and the servants to keep it company."

Sasuke smiled. His mom was so naïve sometimes. Mikoto had completely missed what he had meant.

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As the roads rolled by and Sasuke and Mikoto drove out of the city and a little ways into the country, Sasuke's mind reflected on the situation he was now in. How had he come here so fast? Three years had disappeared like the many raindrops now rolling up his windshield.

Three years ago, Sasuke had arrived at Firestone High for his sophomore year only to find that his new roommate, Sakumo Hayaro, was also an incredible basketball player. The rivalries and tensions between the two had escalated until one fateful night, when Sasuke had discovered that Sakumo was actually a girl. And not just any girl: the daughter of his idol, the famed Saki Haruno of the Fire Ninja!

"_So," Sasuke breathed, looking down at the cowering pink-haired girl in front of him. "Sakumo Hayaro, the all-star basketball player, the famed point guard, the excellent shot…is a GIRL."_

_His left hand came off the wall and headed for his pocket._

"_Maybe the guys should know about this…"_

_Sakura caught his hand. "NO!"_

_Her jade eyes staring pleadingly into his. "Please, if they find out…I'll be expelled, and disgraced!"_

_In fury, Sasuke grabbed her arm and flung her away from him. Stumbling with the force of his push, Sakura reeled across the ground and fell over the hood of his car. Quick as a flash, Sasuke had flipped her over. His right hand pinned her left to the hood of the car, while his other hand gripped her right wrist, which was pushed up in an effort to defend herself. He stood over her, blazing fury. Sakura felt tears spring to her eyes._

"_Please…no…"_

_Sasuke's anger had gotten the better of him. Now, as he stared down at the helpless, cowering girl he had pinned, the flames began to die down. Slowly the fervor left his black eyes, quelled by depths of jade. _

_Sakura gasped as Sasuke pushed himself off, allowing her to get up. _

"_Get up," he said. Sakura did so warily, feeling something roll down her cheek. She couldn't see Sasuke's face: his black hair obscured the light from reaching it._

"_I won't reveal your secret…yet."_

"_Oh, SASUKE!"_

_Sasuke blocked her from grabbing him in a hug, his arms on her shoulders, pushing her back. His eyes affixed hers again._

"_Whether I like it or not, you have to stay on the team. We've got the City Finals coming up, and we can't afford to lose." He let go of the girl before him again. "So I guess what I'm saying is…you're too good to lose." Sasuke couldn't believe he was saying this. "Whether I like it or not…we, the team, need you."_

They had needed Sakura: her talent had gotten them past the City Finals and to the Districts, which they had won against Suna, 100 – 54. That victory came at a harsh price, however: Sakura's ribs had been broken in a foul play and her secret then discovered. Tarnished by their star player's real identity but allowed to keep their place, Firestone High advanced to the State Finals against Iwakagure. That game had been momentous, too: Itachi had tried to murder his own mother.

Itachi – Sasuke's older brother. Currently serving a life sentence in prison for the murder of his father, Fugaku Uchiha, and the attempted murder of his mother, Mikoto Uchiha, and his brother, Sasuke Uchiha. Not to mention that Itachi had very nearly turned his gun on Sakura Haruno. Sasuke grimly gripped the wheel as he braked at a red light. Itachi had gotten everything he deserved. At the State game, Sasuke had run across Itachi preparing to kill Sakura, who was standing guard over his mother, Mikoto. Sasuke had guarded both his teammate and his parent until Sakura sent security a plea for help. Itachi had been apprehended, but Sasuke had been severely wounded by a bullet to his shoulder.

"Ow!" Sasuke suddenly winced.

"What is it, dear?" his mother asked anxiously as Sasuke fought to control the car through the throb of pain.

_My shoulder…it just hurt like hell,_ Sasuke thought. _But why? The doctors said it was fully healed…AAGH!_

Sasuke bent his head and clenched his teeth in pain as the circular scar throbbed again. It felt like his shoulder had been torn open by Itachi's bullet again…

"_I'll say it one more time, brother: get out of my way."_

_Sasuke clenched his teeth. "No."_

BAM!

_Sakura screamed. Sasuke gaped at the bloody hole now punched through his shoulder. Behind them both, Mikoto cowered even lower. _

"_That was a warning shot," Itachi said softly, as Sasuke bent double, coughing up blood and clutching his shoulder. "The next one goes through your heart."_

Mikoto screamed as their car swerved off the road. Sasuke was half blinded by pain, but he hit the brake and brought the car to a stop on the shoulder. With a shudder, the car came to a halt.

"Sasuke-kun! What is it?!" Mikoto cried as Sasuke's forehead slumped to the wheel, his left hand covering the place where his perfectly circular scar ached.

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**How's this for a start to your sequel? More to come soon! Start reviewing...NOW! Come on, guys, this is your sequel, YOU wanted it, so tell me what you think:)**


	3. Break Down and Break Out

"Sasuke-kun? Are you alright?"

Sasuke's eyes slowly opened. Wet…very wet…

Water splashed onto his face as Sasuke realized he was lying on the asphalt next to his car. But why was there more than one face looking down at him?

"He'll be alright now, ma'am," a voice said. "He just fainted. Surprising, though, he's in the best of health. Well, it shouldn't happen again, he's just fine now."

"Sasuke-kun, how are you feeling?" Mikoto asked anxiously as Sasuke sat up, feeling his right shoulder all over.

"I'm fine, Mom, just disoriented," Sasuke said groggily. "Who's this?"

A face bent through the slow gray drizzle, and Sasuke found himself looking at a man who resembled him a little. Short black hair, a pale face, and a smile that was kind. Too kind.

_It's fake,_ Sasuke's mind said. _There's no way that's a genuine smile._

"Alright, ma'am, I'm going to leave now," the man said, standing up from where he knelt.

"Thank you so much for helping me when Sasuke fainted," Mikoto said warmly. "I was frightened out of my wits."

"You might want to drive the rest of the way there, just to be safe," the man said. "Sometimes the grayness of rainy days does funny stuff to a driver's head. Where exactly ARE you going, if you don't mind my asking?"

"Kishimoto University," Mikoto said proudly. "Sasuke-kun's a freshman this year!"

"Kishimoto, eh?" the man said interestedly. "I'm right nearby. Sarutobi Law School, ever heard of it?"

"No way!" Mikoto exclaimed. "I thought you were a medical student, you were so confident with the way you handled Sasuke-kun!"

"Please, call me 'Sai'," the man said with his fake smile pasted on again. "I'm right next door to the Sannin Med School, we law students share dormitory facilities with the medical students. You do pick up a few things around them," he laughed.

"Well, Sai, we won't take up any more of your time," said Mikoto firmly. "Come on, Sasuke, let's get back on the road."

Sasuke stood up and fixed Sai with his gaze. He was surprised to find that Sai was actually about his own height: six feet four inches. Black eyes met black eyes in a haze of gray rain.

_I don't trust this man,_ Sasuke's mind said.

_Oh well, you probably won't see him again, anyway,_ Sasuke replied. _And good riddance._

Then it hit him. This Sai was a student at Sarutobi Law, which was right next to Sannin Med. And Sannin Med…

_Oh, crap,_ Sasuke's mind said. _SAKURA attends Sannin Med!!_

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"Wow, what a beautiful place," Mikoto gushed, looking up at Sasuke's soon-to-be dorm building. "The quad is spectacular!"

"Mom, I think I can unpack by myself," Sasuke muttered.

"You sure, hon? I mean, you did faint earlier!" Mikoto said anxiously. Sasuke sighed.

"Did you HAVE to say it that loudly, mom?"

"Sorry, Sasuke-kun." Mikoto kissed his cheek. "Now be a good boy, don't do drugs, don't get in a fight, and play basketball the way you do best!"

"Bye, mom."

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"Hey, hey, hey, SASUKE-TEME, dattebayo!" Sasuke had just opened his door when he was blown back by the orange whirlwind that shot out from the room.

"OUCH! GERROFFAME! Is that YOU, Naruto?"

"You betcha, dattebayo!" Naruto grinned. Sasuke grimaced.

"Don't tell me YOU'RE my roommate?!?"

"Yeah, I got accepted to Kishimoto, so I decided to come, too!" Naruto babbled. "But I didn't get a spot on the team. You were the only one from Firestone to get on the Kishimoto Shuriken, Sasuke-teme!"

"Really?" Sasuke muttered as he rubbed the back of his aching head. "Where'd everyone else go?"

"Neji went to a private college, Bya Kugan, I think," Naruto said, scowling. "Hot shot. And Shikamaru's taking correspondence courses with Yale, way out in America. Kiba, Shino, and everyone else went to community college, I think."

"Great, just great," Sasuke groaned. "I'm stuck with you and only you. Isn't there anyone else from Firestone here?"

"Not from our building, except for Rock Lee!" Naruto cheered. "He made the track team and is expected to go to the Olympics. The OLYMPICS, teme! More than YOU can say!!!"

Sasuke lugged his trunk into the room and began unpacking, hounded by Naruto's ceaseless chatter. Over the next few hours, the walls went from plain, bare white cinderblock to the lair of a teenage guy.

"Hnn," Sasuke said as he finished pinning up a poster, "I'm done." He leapt off the bed and examined the poster. It was a picture of the '93 Fire Ninja, with Saki Haruno grinning in the foreground. Next to it was his old poster of the current Fire Ninja team, but Sasuke knew that the '93 poster would always hold a place in his heart.

"_Here, Sasuke, I want you to have this." Sakura handed him a rolled-up poster. Sasuke turned it over quizzically._

"_What's this?"_

"_It's my poster of the team my dad was on," Sakura said quietly. "The one that hung in our dorm that year I was at Firestone. I want you to have it, Sasuke, so you'll always remember me."_

Sasuke carefully laid a framed photograph on the windowsill, close to the head of his bed. It was a picture of Sakura and himself, both in their Firestone uniforms, sharing a basketball. Sasuke was smirking, Sakura was laughing contentedly.

"Eh, I still can't believe you got the pretty girl, dattebayo," Naruto muttered. Sasuke stood up.

"Hnn, dobe, you had your chance. She was on the team with all of us, but I was the first one to figure it out. Besides, she was my roommate."

"Well, I'm your roommate now!" Naruto said, lying back on his bed. "And we're at Kishimoto University. Looks like we're college kids!"

Sasuke suddenly grabbed his shoulder, wincing in pain.

"Teme, you OK?" Naruto sat up. Sasuke ground his teeth and stared out the window over the quad, which was hung over with thick, black clouds.

_Itachi…where are you?_

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Somewhere far away, the rain was coming down in sheets so thick that it was impossible to see even two feet in front of your face. The thunder of the rain mixed with the grumbling of the clouds made it impossible to hear anything over the din. Every now and then, lightning flashed, but it barely made any difference to the grayness of the storm, only tinging it ash instead of charcoal.

Water droplets rolled down the barbed wire, down the intertwined metal strands, until they fell suddenly from the abrupt ending. The mud obscured the red pair of cutters lying in a mucky puddle. And the rain blurred any footprints that may have been left behind.

Lightning lit up angry eyes in a determined face.

Someone was going to pay. He'd suffered long enough…and someone was going to pay.


	4. My Troubles Get Worse

Sasuke collapsed on the bench during the water break, grateful for even the few seconds to rest his weary muscles. Honestly, who'd have thought playing college ball was so HARD?

It had only been a week, and already the coach was running them like they were a football team. Heck, the basketball season didn't even start for three months!! Was he going to have to endure this physical torture every day AND do his coursework?

"Hey, man, when you pivot on the Star play, make sure you don't lift your heel off the ground," the guy next to him said, squirting water from his bottle into his mouth. "It looks suspicious to any hawk-eyed referee, I saw you do it at least twice."

"Last time I checked, the coach was over 50," Sasuke snarled. "Why are you messing with my game? If Coach doesn't like it, he'll tell me."

_PHWEEET!_

"Alright, men, on the end line! Give me 50 updowns!"

_That's a FOOTBALL drill,_ Inner Sasuke sighed. _Honestly, don't they know anything?_

_We're going to be dead by the end of practice, anyway,_ Sasuke replied, _so what's the point? This is ten times WORSE than doing those suicides under Itachi…_

_I'd almost RATHER be doing those, _his inner replied.

Without warning, the silver circular scar let out a round of pain. Sasuke was in the middle of an updown when it happened: he fell down and onto his face, twitching slightly with the pain. On the outside, he was merely making a face, but on the inside, Sasuke was screaming in agony. It felt like someone had torn open the hole in his shoulder…

A fist grabbed the back of his sweat-soaked shirt and hauled him up.

"Dude, you can't rest now, we've got another hour of practice," the guy from before spoke. He slapped Sasuke around the face. "Get up and stop whining."

Without warning, Sasuke suddenly punched the kid's face! The team crowded around as the boy stood up, glaring at Sasuke, wiping a trace of blood from the corner of his mouth. The two might have begun fighting there and then had the coach not put a stop to it.

"Suigetsu! Sasuke! Knock it off before I knock your blocks off!"

"Yes, sir," Sasuke muttered.

"Understood," Suigetsu grimaced.

"You'll be doing extra laps as payment for the minute you wasted," Coach growled. "Suicides with a ball, now!"

_So, this dude's name is Suigetsu,_ Inner Sasuke noted.

_And we sure as heck don't like him, _Sasuke agreed.

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From: SharinganAvenger

To: PinkPointGuard

Re: School

_I miss you, Sakura. That's what keeps running through my head right now. Every day I wake up and the first thing is, I miss Sakura. _

_How's Sannin Med going so far? I hear you guys are next door to a law school. Guess I'm in competition with all the cute lawyers-in-training, huh? _

_Basketball's been really hard already…and the season hasn't even started yet! But considering the prowess of the Kishimoto Shuriken and the teams in their league, this should be a fantastic year for me. Heck, maybe the scouts from the Fire Ninja'll even come around!_

_I met this guy called Suigetsu, he's a real pain in the butt. He's on the team, too, but I can't for the life of me figure out what position he plays. Guess I'll find out next week. _

_I'm really glad it's the weekend, hope you don't have too much work to do. Heh, I'm glad I have you to write to: this is probably the most talkative I've been all week. My roommate is (guess who?) Naruto, so I do a lot of listening and not a lot of talking. _

_It's quiet here without my cherry blossom. Maybe I'll go down to the courts a little later, and think of you while I shoot. _

_Love, Sasuke_

Sasuke leaned back and examined his email. Short, sweet, and to the point. With a sigh, he clicked 'Send' and signed out of his email account. As soon as the server finished logging him out, it returned to the home page. Sasuke would have closed the window, but a headline caught his eye.

**Breakout From ANBU Detention Center**

ANBU Detention…that vaguely rung a bell. Sasuke clicked the headline and scanned the article. His eyes narrowed as he read.

**ANBU Detention Center representatives stated this morning that several inmates have escaped from several high-level security cells. A spokesperson said that the breakout is thought to have happened a week ago during heavy wind and rains. For security reasons, the information was not released to the public. But now, the spokesperson says, it is a public danger for citizens in the area.**

"**The fact that we could not trace these escapees nor apprehend them after several days indicates that they have put some considerable distance between themselves and our facility," Anko Mitarashi said. "We strongly urge all citizens of the Konoha City area to be on the alert for these criminals. We have set up a hotline, and if one of these men is seen, we urge people to call the hotline right away. These men are dangerous and must not be approached at any cost."**

Below the short article was a link that led to mug shots of the escaped criminals. Sasuke clicked it. A moment later, he pushed back his chair and stood up, mouthing wordlessly.

The first picture was a shot of his elder brother, Itachi Uchiha.

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**Uh-oh, Itachi's out and about. What will Sasuke do? What's Itachi's goal? I have a short poll I need **_**ALL**_** my readers to take. If you DO NOT take it, then this story will grind to a halt where it is. Your answers affect the outcome of this story. The question is this: **

**death **

**disappearance**

**WHICH ONE???? I won't tell you anything else, it's your preference. There are two choices, choose one: DEATH or DISAPPEARANCE. You can choose based on your preference, your emotions, your lucky number, your favorite month(don't ask me how THAT works), what the rabid squirrel ninjas of doom are telling you to do…**

**NOTE: 'DEATH' does NOT necessarily mean that someone in this fic will die. Just wanted to let you know that. :)**

**I don't care. Just pick one. I will add up the votes and choose one to continue the fic. REMEMBER: ****IF YOU DO NOT CAST A VOTE, I CAN **_**NOT**_** CONTINUE WITH THIS FIC!!!**** Thank you!**


	5. Akat Tsu Ki and a NearDeath Experience

The next few days were quiet around the college campus. Sasuke went to his classes and practices as usual, and no one made mention of the fact that his brother had escaped from prison. If they knew, they were keeping it to themselves.

Naruto was in Sasuke's last class of the day, so after class, they would walk down to the cafeteria together and eat. Sasuke liked it: it was a chance to sit under cover of Naruto's babbling and look busy, but to really have time to think to himself.

As the roommates got their cards swiped and got their trays for lunch, Sasuke bumped headlong into a man coming out of the dining hall. Or rather, the man walked straight into him.

"Sorry," Sasuke said after extricating himself. "Didn't see you."

The man, who was short and looked a lot like a middle school kid, only grunted and continued on his way out the door. Sasuke watched him go.

"Who was that guy?" he asked Naruto as they sat down with fully loaded trays. "He looked like he should still be in school!"

"That's Sasori," Naruto said, chowing down on his ramen. "I'm not surprised you haven't seen him yet: he's one of the Akat Tsu Ki boys."

"The whos?"

"Akat Tsu Ki, come on, Sasuke, even _I _know who they are," Naruto said in exasperation. "They're the most exclusive frat house on campus. You've got pass all kinds of tests to get in…but they call it 'initiation'." He shuddered.

"Hnn."

Naruto looked up at Sasuke. "They don't have a Greek symbol, like the other frats and sororities do. Instead, they just wear a red cloud. Most of them like to just wear black T-shirts with the red cloud on the back. I'd steer clear of those guys, if I were you."

"How come?" Sasuke asked calmly. Naruto leaned across the table.

"Because your brother, Itachi, was in Akat Tsu Ki once."

"WHAT?!?"

"SSSSH!" Naruto tried to quiet Sasuke down. Sasuke sat back down in his seat, conscious of all the curious eyes that were following him. It was as though he had cast a spell: one table comprised entirely of girls suddenly seemed struck dumb.

"What do you mean, Itachi was part of Akat Tsu Ki?" Sasuke demanded, in a softer tone as the buzz of chatter filled the hall again.

"Just that. Don't blame me, teme, I saw a red cloud on Itachi's jacket in sophomore year," Naruto said firmly. "I remember because he was standing in front of me making me do push-ups, and I saw the red cloud clearly. I wondered what it was, and then we came here, and I found out."

"Great, just great," Sasuke said, covering his face with his hand. "First Itachi breaks out, and then I run into his old fraternity…"

"Itachi broke OUT?!" It was Naruto's turn to yelp. Sasuke jerked his head at the door.

"Come on, I'll show you in the library." The two boys stood up with their trays and left the dining hall. On the way out, Sasuke passed the table lined with girls. He didn't miss the smiling faces or flirtatious gestures that were shot his way. He'd had too much experience with cheerleaders from the other schools' teams to worry about that.

But Sasuke had never been on a team that had its own cheerleaders, and that was his mistake. For Sasuke had just walked by the cheerleaders' table, and they had their eyes fixed on his lithe, handsome form.

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After showing Naruto the article, Sasuke then proceeded to check his email. Naruto wandered off into the shelves, looking for a book to help him on one of his long-term research papers.

From: PinkPointGuard

To: SharinganAvenger

Re: Re: School

_Hey, Sasuke-kun! I miss you a lot, but I've made some amazing friends here. There's this one guy that I'm SURE you'd like, if you ever met him. His name's Sai Aizawa, and he reminds me so much of you! Well, sort of, except that he has this strange theory about human emotions, how they're just chemical reactions that we can control, etc. But he's pretty neat!_

_Ino-chan decided to come here to Sannin Med, too, and now she's my roommate! How coincidental is THAT? And you've got NARUTO!?!?!? Lol I guess the admin ppl have it going for us!_

_I miss basketball so much. Sannin Med doesn't have a team (duh!), so I guess I'm out of luck. Besides Ino and I, there aren't many girls who like basketball here. That's the one problem with Sai: he dislikes sports in general. _

_That Suigetsu guy sounds like a handful. But I'm sure you'll do fine. We're all well and happy here. Give my love to your mom!_

_Love, Sakura_

Sasuke ground his teeth until his jaw muscles hurt. So that Sai guy had found his Sakura, eh? Just let him TRY to put a hand near her…

_We'll CRUSH him,_ Inner Sasuke said.

_You know, I hate to say this, but we're probably too defensively possessive,_ Sasuke said mentally.

_Who cares? Sakura's OURS!!_

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It happened the next day. His lunch was finished, and to beat the crowds coming out of the dining hall, Sasuke had left early. He was passing through the entrance hall to the dining hall when he heard a strange groaning and creaking sound. A shadow suddenly fell across his body. Without even thinking, Sasuke flung himself to one side, rolling away from the danger.

_KERSMASH!!_

Screams and the tinkle of broken glass filled the high-arched entrance way. Stunned, Sasuke sat up, only to feel the tingle of blood sliding down his face. Something large and sparkly was sitting in the middle of the floor: something heavy had just fallen where Sasuke had been standing only a moment ago.

"What's going on here?" one of the dining hall workers asked angrily. The fury melted from his face like butter as he saw what had happened.

"Call security! The chandelier fell!" he instructed one of his fellow workers.

"Hey, are you OK?" someone asked worriedly. Sasuke stood up groggily, shaking his head.

"I think so. I just got cut on the face by some flying glass, nothing serious."

"Oh, that's good," the girl said in relief. As Sasuke took her in, he noticed that she only came up to his shoulder. She had tomato-red hair, glasses, and VERY short shorts.

"My name's Karin," the girl said, sticking out her hand. "What's yours?"

"I'm Sasuke," Sasuke said slowly, still trying to stop his limbs from shaking. "Sasuke Uchiha."

He shook her hand briefly, but when he tried to let go, she held on all the tighter.

"Don't you want to say thank you?" she pouted.

_For what?_ Sasuke's mind asked.

"Um, thanks, I guess," Sasuke said. He suddenly noticed the small group of girls looking like they wanted to giggle over in the corner. Like Karin, they all wore tight shirts and short skirts.

_Cheerleaders,_ Sasuke's mind said without missing a beat.

"No, I mean, isn't there a way you could _express_ your thanks?" Karin asked slyly, edging closer so that she brushed him. Sasuke suddenly realized what she wanted.

"No, sorry, I've already got a girlfriend," he said firmly, pushing her off. Karin stuck out a lip.

"Aw, who?"

"She doesn't go here," Sasuke said vaguely. Before Karin could protest, he slung his bag over his shoulder and left the dining hall, wiping the smudge of blood from his cheek. Behind him, Karin stomped her foot and put on a pretty-girl pout.

"I'm going to get you, Sasuke Uchiha," she muttered under her breath.

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He'd beaten the defender, and the path to the goal was clear. He felt his muscles move in the way they always had: it was the way of victory. He slid up into the air, his arms moving the ball up. Here came the snap…

Suddenly there was a body in the way. Before Sasuke could do anything, the ball was batted from in between his hands. It landed behind him and bounced away. Landing like a cat, Sasuke turned to see who had blocked his shot. He found himself looking up at a giant of a man: he towered over Sasuke's six feet four.

"Don't be too confident in your abilities," the center said. "It's a problem with your type."

"And who are you to be telling me this?" Sasuke asked, nettled that yet another member of his team found grounds to criticize him.

"I'm Juugo, the starting center," the man said, holding out a hand. Sasuke took it warily.

"Sasuke, point guard."

"Dude, you need to watch out for that guy," a silver-haired boy said as the coach called a water break. "Juugo may seem gentle, but on court, he literally turns into a beast."

Sasuke shot the guy a glance. "Who are you?"

"I'm Kimimaro, high post," Kimimaro said, saluting like he was a soldier. "But honestly, these guys are all here cause they're the best of the best. Natural talent only gets you so far, you have to work the rest of the way."

"Don't you think I'd have figured that out by now?" Sasuke asked testily as the coach blew the whistle, signaling that their water break was over.

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"Hey, Uchiha, can I talk to ya?" the coach asked as the team filed out of the gym. Sasuke stopped, water bottle in hand, sweat towel wrapped around his neck.

"Sure, coach. What is it?"

"Look, Uchiha," the coach said, "we recruited ya because we thought you were a major find. Don't get me wrong, you've got talent, talent indeed. The thing is, you're not playing at the level you were back at that school you were in, Smokerock or whatever it was. Look, kid, no offense, but you're not doing a great job. You need to get back on track, or I'll have to bench ya."

"No!" Sasuke protested. "Look, Coach, I just started college, I'm still adjusting, just give me a chance, PLEASE!"

The Coach looked thoughtful. "I can understand, a lot of our freshmen are that way. Tell you what, Uchiha – I'm expecting a lot out of you, my star point guard was a senior last year, so I need some new talent. I'm going to keep you benched until we play Suna, and then I'll bring you out as my "secret weapon" of sorts."

Sasuke was speechless. "You'd make ME the star of your team?"

"When we play Suna," the coach warned. "It won't be until later into the season. But you'll have to work HARD in order to make the grade that I want to see out of you, understand?"

"Sure, Coach, thanks," Sasuke said, breathing a sigh of relief. The coach held up a hand.

"Not so fast, son. I forgot to tell you: I hired a personal trainer to stay here with you for an hour after practice every Tuesday and Thursday."

"Who?" Sasuke asked suspiciously. The coach smiled.

"I think you'll like him, he tells me he taught you in high school."

"Aah, am I at the right placccce? I ssssee, hello, Ssssasssuke-kun."

Sasuke spun around to see someone he dreaded coming through the doorway: his old Biology teacher turned personal trainer, Orochimaru!

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**OK, I finally made my choice, aided by your votes, of course. Sorry about the brief hiatus, I hope to keep working on this one. I will be hampered by school, of course, but will do my best to update this one more frequently. There's not much happening so far, but I'll try to put some exciting stuff in the next chappie. **

**Thanx for reading, and REVIEW! **

**-Rhulain**


	6. Someone's Got It IN For Me!

"Ugh," Sasuke groaned, collapsing onto his dorm bed. Things had gone from bad to worse for him. It had been almost three months since his mother had dropped him off at Kishimoto, and things were looking worse than ever.

On top of his classes, Sasuke was having to deal with the hostilities of Suigetsu on the court, something that was costing him a lot of patience. Juugo the center's strength and size weren't much comfort, either. And to top it all off, Orochimaru was getting…stranger every practice. Sasuke shivered, not wanting to think about his pale, sickly-looking trainer. Orochimaru may have been slightly pedophilic, but one thing was for sure: he was a decent trainer. Sasuke's game had steadily been improving, but Suigetsu found points to critique, nonetheless.

Outside the court, Sasuke's challenge was Karin and her group of followers. They enjoyed following him around after class, cheerfully harassing him and making it hard to find privacy anywhere else but his dorm. And he had to share the small space with Naruto, who was eating ramen and guffawing at magazines more often than not.

Even his old friends were no help. Neji was working hard at Bya Kugan, his one reply to Sasuke's email was a short sentence saying, 'Don't bother me. I'm busy.' Shikamaru was busy with Yale correspondence courses, and all the others who went to Konoha Community College were busy with their own lives.

Sakura, meanwhile, was only sending Sasuke emails that agitated him more and more. She kept talking about Sai, and what a fun person he was. The emails weren't written intending to make him jealous, but Sasuke was angered by them, anyway. All he wanted was a break – until he remembered that Itachi had broken out of jail, so his mother was likely to be down and sobbing the entire time he was with her.

Life sucked.

And then it happened. Practice had just begun, and Sasuke was distracted by the fact that he would have to train with Orochimaru for an hour after practice. So distracted, in fact, that he absentmindedly said 'yes' to a request that he should have denied. But it saved his life.

One of the offside guards, Kidomaru, came up to Sasuke, saying, "Dude, I forgot my water, and I'm frickin' thirsty. Can I have a sip of yours?"

"Hnn. Sure," Sasuke muttered, turning to the court.

"Thanks!" Kidomaru said, snatching up Sasuke's water bottle. He tipped his head back and squirted some of it into his mouth.

"Oi, Kidomaru! Stop filling up on water and get on the end line!" the coach barked. Kidomaru laid down the water bottle and started for the end line, but he never made it. He stopped halfway there, hands on his throat like something was choking him.

"Kidomaru! Are you alright?" another member of the team called. Kidomaru fell on his knees, the veins on his temples standing out. The coach ran over, followed by the assistant coach carrying the first aid kit.

"He's not choking, and there's nothing to suggest that he needs CPR," the assistant said frantically after a moment. "He needs medical attention!"

"Sakon! Ukon! Take Kidomaru to the hospital wing, quickly!" the coach barked. The two team members he had selected quickly picked up their suffering friend and left the gym. There was dead silence in the court.

"He drank some of your water, didn't he, Uchiha?" the coach asked Sasuke quietly. Sasuke nodded.

"But it was from the water fountain, I filled it earlier…"

The coach walked over to the bench with Sasuke and twisted the cap off the bottle. He sniffed the contents, then, dipping a finger into the water, he licked the tip lightly. He pulled a wry face.

"Son, that's not normal water."

"What do you mean?" Sasuke asked blankly. The coach ran a finger around the inside rim and showed it to Sasuke. A thin, white powder sparkled on his finger.

"Someone was trying to poison you," he said darkly. "That's rat poison, if I'm not mistaken. Dissolves colorlessly in water, and if you're thirsty, you won't notice the taste."

"But I don't understand!" Sasuke protested. "Who would be trying to poison me?!"

The coach carried the bottle over to a trash bin and threw the entire thing away. "Who knows, son?" He looked the Uchiha over. "You're looking peaky, I'll let you take today off. I'll call Orochimaru, tell him you're not doing well."

Sasuke made to argue, but the coach held up a hand. "GO, Uchiha! The rest of you, check your water. I don't want to lose anyone else to rat poison."

Sasuke got more than a few glares as he pulled off his basketball shoes and tied on a pair of running shoes. He threw his gear into a Kishimoto Shuriken duffel bag, slung it over his shoulder, and headed for the exit.

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"Whoa, hold on a second, teme!" Naruto said. "So someone was trying to KILL you?!"

Sasuke sighed. "For the fifth time, yes."

Naruto whistled. "That can only mean one thing."

"What?"

"You're FAMOUS, dude!" Naruto clapped his roommate on the shoulder. "You're so popular and talented that you've got ENEMIES! I wish I was that cool!"

"Hnn, well, it's not so exciting when you're the one who narrowly avoided being poisoned, I assure you," Sasuke said as they rounded the corner, heading for their next lecture hall.

"Well, I think that – oof!" Naruto had not been watching where he was going, and thus had walked right into another student and fallen on his rear end.

The person Naruto had walked into was tall, with platinum-blonde hair that was slicked back. He wore all black, and there was a small red cloud on the breast pocket of his shirt. Naruto scrambled backward like a crab.

"S-Sorry about that, dattebayo," he gulped. The man raised an eyebrow.

"Who the bleep do you think you are, you bleeping piece of ble-"

"Shut up, Hidan," a new voice said. Another man, shorter than the first, but equally as ominous, came up. "Your foul mouth's already gotten you into trouble before, you don't need to shoot it off because some freshman walked into you."

Hidan turned to his friend. "The guy's a bleep, Kakazu!"

Kakazu looked down at Naruto with distaste. "I know, Hidan, but he's only a freshman. There are better prizes worth your time."

This time, Sasuke distinctly caught the look that both juniors shot him. Then Hidan shrugged.

"Whatever. Let's get the bleep out of here, yeah."

Kakazu snorted. "You're starting to sound like Deidara."

Naruto got back to his feet as the two black-wearing juniors rounded the corner and disappeared. "Man, they were SCARY, dattebayo!"

"They weren't just weird," Sasuke said grimly. "They were from Akat Tsu Ki."

Naruto shivered. "I dunno about you, but I'm staying AWAY from those guys."

Sasuke didn't respond, lost down the corridors of thought.

_Did Itachi ever wear the black shirt with the red cloud over the pocket? Did he ever terrorize freshmen like that? Who IS this Akat Tsu Ki, and what do they have in common with my brother?_

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_PHWEEEEEEEEEEET!!_

The crowd groaned dismally. The score was 34-27, and the Iwakagure Bulls were in the lead. The Shuriken coach called his team over.

"Look, guys, their center is TALL. You shut them out of the box, OK? A triangle and two, and SHUT THEM DOWN!"

Further down the bench, those who were not currently playing were sitting in various positions of boredom. A familiar black-haired teenager was among them. Sasuke stared blankly at the court, glaring at the polished wooden floor. It was the fifth game of the season, and so far, he had spent all twenty quarters sitting on the bench.

The buzzer went off, signaling that someone had scored. The crowd cheered again. It was all white noise to the Uchiha.

Suddenly, a flash of pink on the far side of the court caught his eye. High up in the dome, filing down to get to her seat, was a familiar face, wearing the Kishimoto colors.

_SAKURA!_

As she sat down, a black-haired man with shifty-looking eyes took his place next to her. Sakura cheered and clapped her hands, turning to the man beside her and saying something. He murmured something in reply, which made her laugh. Sasuke growled. A few months ago, only he would have been able to make her face so joyous.

He watched as Sakura scanned the court for him, her eyes gravitating towards the ball. Her face fell as she realized, after a few seconds, that Sasuke was nowhere on the court. Sasuke looked up as she spotted him on the bench, and for only a second, their eyes connected. But only a second. The man beside Sakura nudged her and whispered something in her ear. Sakura nodded, and the man got up to go get something. Sasuke recognized him as he stood up again.

Sai!

Sai was here, with HIS Sakura!

Sai had brought HIS Sakura to the game!

Sai had brought HIS Sakura to the game, and Sasuke couldn't even play in front of her!

"Hey, are you OK?" Kimimaro asked as the whistle blew and the play ended. All five of the players on the court had come back for water, and Kimimaro was squirting his own into his mouth. The spell was broken, and Sasuke looked around.

"Huh? What?"

"Dude, I'd see somebody about that twitch you've got in your left eye, it really looks bad," Kimimaro commented. "Come on, it's halftime, we gotta go!"

Sasuke scanned the crowd once more as he grabbed his water and jogged back to the locker room with the rest of his team. His eyes could not find the pink again.

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"Alright, men, what's wrong with you?" the coach roared. "We're down to Iwakagure! IWAKAGURE! I've NEVER seen you play so pathetically!"

The team looked down at their shoes.

"It'd be easier if we weren't worried about being poisoned," someone muttered. The coach glared.

"Who said that?"

No one answered.

"Look, guys, I'm worried, too. But just because Kidomaru had to go to the hospital doesn't mean that we can't beat Iwakagure. The two are NOT related. You got that?"

The team muttered incoherently. The coach scanned the players, looking for someone.

"Uchiha!"

Sasuke looked up.

"Yessir?"

"Go to the subs table halfway through the third quarter," the coach instructed. "I want you to sub for Kidomaru. Sakon? Go in for Ukon at the same time. Juugo, you good?"

"I'm fine, coach," the huge man said. Beside him sat Suigetsu, who shot Sasuke a death glare that plainly said: _I'm not sharing any of the court glory with YOU._

"Alright, then, if that's it, let's GO!" the coach yelled.

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The game was still doing badly by the middle of the third quarter. Iwakagure had managed to put another 8 points on the board, and the Shuriken were lagging.

"Uchiha! Sakon! Sub in!" the coach barked during a timeout. "The rest of you, come here and look at this." He was holding a clipboard with an analysis of Iwakagure's defenses.

Sasuke and Sakon leapt up from their places on the bench and trotted to the scoreboard table, kneeling at the side. "Subbing for number 24," Sasuke said eagerly. The girl at the table looked him over.

"This your first time?"

Sasuke grinned, unable to contain his excitement any longer. "You bet!"

BOOM!

There were several screams as something exploded. The coach whirled around, shouting.

"What the-"

Sasuke stared in shock.

The Kishimoto Shuriken bench had just blown up, and the bomb had been placed EXACTLY UNDER THE SPOT WHERE HE HAD BEEN SITTING!!!!

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**Does anyone know how to do the funky gray lines? If so, advice would be GREATLY appreciated...**

**Long reviews! Rhulain wants to love long reviews, but all she gets are two words! 'Update' and 'soon'! Yes, those ARE important words in your vocabulary, my dear reader, but they are not satisfactory subsistence for a starving sequel-writer! Predictions, SUGGESTIONS (need a LOT of these), and smiley faces are welcome, as are the 'u' word and 's' word, but only in block paragraphs, plz! You're in school, write me an essay:) Consider it practice... :P lolz JK but long reviews ARE appreciated, and I WILL mention long reviewers by name next chappie! Thank ye kindly, sirrahs!**

**Rhulain**


	7. Murder in the Quad!

"Well, at least it wasn't a total loss," the coach reflected. "We DID end up forfeiting the game, but now I'll get to use some of you as my ace in the hole for Suna."

The team was on the end line, looking miserable. Sasuke was on the very end, and there was a gap between him and the player next to him. The whole team was afraid of him now, and there was a good reason why.

"_What just happened?" the security guard demanded. People were still exiting the building, and security officers were everywhere._

"_Someone tried to sabotage the Shuriken by placing a bomb under the bench," the Shuriken coach said firmly. Behind him, Suigetsu snorted._

"_Yeah, and they set the bomb exactly under the place where Uchiha always sits."_

_The guard looked interested. "Has anything like this happened before?"_

"_Yes, sir," Sasuke admitted miserably. "Someone put poison in my water bottle, but someone else ended up drinking it on accident."_

_The coach laid a hand on Sasuke's shoulder. "He's a reliable boy, sir, never gives me a moment of trouble. But I must say, I've never had anything like this ever happen before on my team."_

_The guard jotted something down in a notebook, looking serious. "Hate to break it to you, son, but it looks like someone might have it in for you. After all, poisoning your water, and this" – he motioned behind him to the twisted metal shards of the bench- "I'd say it's pretty certain. I'd recommend that you either hire some security or go home for a little while, and see how everything blows over."_

"_But I can't go home!" Sasuke protested. "I've got to play!"_

_The guard frowned. "Someone's determined to make sure that you can't, for what reason, I don't know. Hire yourself a bodyguard if you don't want to leave."_

"_If security at these events was more reliable and efficient, perhaps my players wouldn't have their lives endangered so easily," the coach remarked icily. The guard looked affronted._

"_Sir, we do our best at all these university events to-"_

"_I've heard the spiel before," the coach growled. "Come on, Uchiha, let's let them clean up."_

"_I'm sorry about the whole thing, sir," Sasuke said ruefully. The coach rubbed his temples._

"_It's not your fault, son. But we will have to forfeit the game, and that means we lost to Iwakagure." He looked old for a moment, older than he was supposed to. "I just hope we win our next game, otherwise, we're out of the running for the championship."_

"_Who are we playing, coach?"_

"_Suna."_

* * *

"Even though we lost to the Bulls, we can still defeat the Suna Sandmen with everything we've got!" the coach yelled. 

After suicides, the team moved on to a weave drill. Sasuke found himself in the center line with the ball, meaning that he would be the one to perform the lay-up at the other end. As he side-stepped down the court, passing without dribbling to Suigetsu and Kimimaro, Sasuke was acutely aware of the glare imprinted on Suigetsu's face.

As they reached the far basket, Sasuke pulled up slightly, waiting for Suigetsu's pass so he could shoot. It didn't come. Instead, Suigetsu rose up on a high jump and slammed the ball through the net. Landing right in Sasuke's face, he leaned in and sneered.

"You think you're so tough, working with Orochimaru," he hissed. "Well, I don't care what anyone says, I'M not gonna let you walk away with all the glory!"

"Momitchi! Uchiha! What's the problem?" the coach barked. "You're holding up the drill!"

"Just wait until we play Suna," Sasuke growled. "I'll show you who's boss, then."

"If you're even alive," Suigetsu muttered as they returned to the three lines and each chose a new one.

* * *

Sasuke hated to say it, but after a few more days, he was pretty sure Suigetsu was right. As they got closer and closer to the Suna game, Sasuke became more and more aware of the strange things surrounding him. Afraid of being poisoned, he barely ate and drank, subsisting off of soda and snacks from the vending machines, which he was sure was safe. 

The freshman also had a few more run-ins with Karin, who was hinting heavily that she would like to go out with him. Sasuke often would sidestep the cheerleader and continue down the hallway, but Karin was getting trickier and trickier to avoid.

"Hey, Sasuke-kun," she purred one day as Sasuke came down the corridor, already late for a Chemistry class.

"Hnn," Sasuke said, trying to get past her for the lecture hall. But Karin got in his way with her considerable figure, a pout on her pretty face. The hallway Sasuke was standing in joined another hallway that was perpendicular to it right where they were standing, and that was where Karin had waylaid him every day.

"Aaw, come on, Sasuke-kun," she pouted. "You never say anything more to me than 'Hnn'. Don't you have any other words in that vocabulary of yours?"

Sasuke looked down at her with distaste as she inched closer, one long, manicured nail reaching out to touch his chest. "Karin, I really don't have time for this…"

The next few things happened so fast that Sasuke's mind barely processed them. Karin's other hand reached out and jerked on the strap of his bag, causing all his textbooks to spill out across the floor. As he and Karin bent over to pick them up, Karin's hand fastened itself firmly over his hand. And three painfully loud explosions sounded from further down the corridor.

Acting on pure instinct, Sasuke grabbed Karin's shoulder and forced both of them flat onto the floor as something whizzed overhead, looking down the corridor that joined the one they were in. He thought he saw a glimpse of black vanishing around the corner. Crash after crash sounded down both hallways as door after door flew open. Students poured out, screaming bloody murder. Professors quickly followed, trying to make sense of the situation.

Sasuke stood up, Karin still clinging to his arm, rubbing up against him and screaming.

"MURDER! MURDER IN THE HALLWAY!"

But even Karin's raven-like caws could not block out the white noise that filled Sasuke's head when he looked at the wall behind where they had been standing.

Three black holes the size of a nickel each had been punched forcefully into the wall.

* * *

"Well, Mr. Uchiha, I just don't know what to say," the dean said, taking off his glasses and polishing them on his shirt. "You say there have been several attempts on your life, now?" 

Sasuke nodded firmly.

"The most recent was the shooting in the hallway?"

Another nod.

"And you have no reason or cause to suspect anyone you know?" the dean asked wearily.

"Sir, we've been over this ground several times already," Sasuke said. "I don't know why ANYONE would be trying to kill me. The only fact I have is that my brother escaped from a high-security prison a couple months ago. He tried to kill my mother three years ago, it's possible that he might be after me." He did not mention that Itachi had been a part of Akat Tsu Ki.

The dean looked affronted. "Kishimoto University's security has always been of the utmost import-"

"Obviously not, because someone's almost managed to kill me three times!" Sasuke stood up, speaking in a raised tone. "I'm sorry, sir, but this really is getting us nowhere. I must return to my studies, and you must continue to focus on capturing on whoever it is is trying to kill me."

The dean sighed. "Very well, Mr. Uchiha. We will do our best to keep the other students safe. You are dismissed."

_What a useless meeting,_ Sasuke thought as he emerged from the dean's office. _He got absolutely nowhere. Could it really be Itachi that's after me? Or could Naruto be right, and it's just someone who's jealous of me?_

He clenched his fist. _Well, let's just make it to the Suna game. We'll see how things have changed from there. Just heed Suigetsu's advice and don't…die before then._

* * *

The dome was filled to the brim with screaming, cheering fans, clad in both the Suna and Kishimoto colors. The coach called the Shuriken over to him. 

"Look, guys, if we win this game, we progress to the state championships," he said, clapping Sasuke on the back. "Uchiha, this is your chance to shine. Momitchi, play with all you got. Juugo, Sakon, Jidoubo, you guys got this. Ready, team?"

The team all laid a hand in the center, Sasuke's on top. The coach nodded. "On three. One…two…three…"

"KISHIMOTO SHURIKEN!"

Sasuke clapped his hands together, spun around, and jogged onto the court. On the huge screen overhead, he saw his face come up on the four sides. The announcer came on over the loudspeaker.

"And for a surprise start-up, the Shuriken coach is putting in a rookie point guard, Sasuke Uchiha! The freshman has played for Firestone High for four years and won a scholarship to Kishimoto University…"

The rest of his words were drowned out by the growing chant that Sasuke suspected was started by Karin.

"SA-SUKE! SA-SUKE! SA-SUKE!"

Sasuke grinned. Just like the old times, back at Firestone High – except that another name had been chanted alongside his.

"_SA-KU-MO! SA-KU-MO!"_

And he wasn't even taking the jump ball.

The ref blew the whistle and stepped into the circle, where Juugo and the Suna center were waiting. He threw it up…

Juugo swatted, and Sasuke caught it. He pivoted and began to dribble. Streaking like a bolt of lightning, the young Uchiha sprinted downcourt and put up an easy two points. He vaguely heard the announcer calling his name and points. The roar of the crowd eased down, secondary to the sound of a leather ball slapping the wooden floor.

The game was on.

As the Suna point guard came down the court, dribbling, Sasuke moved forward to pick him up, ready to play man-to-man. The guard slid Sasuke back, but was stopped just before the three-point line. He suddenly veered right, but Sasuke found his way blocked by a Suna pick. A pick that looked all too familiar.

"Quick! Suigetsu! Take ball!" Sasuke yelled.

"Got ball!" Suigetsu's cry replied from the other side of the pick that Sasuke was glaring at. His face broke into a smirk as he assumed a defensive position.

"Well, well, nice to see you, Subaku."

"The pleasure's all mine, Uchiha," Gaara sneered.

The two old rivals fought each other on the court with everything they had, except that, this time, both had impressively improved. If the game had just been between Suigetsu and Sasuke's efforts and Gaara and Kankuro's, the scores would have remained relatively even. But the Shuriken had one advantage: the enormous Juugo. He filled the lane so well and blocked so many shots that Suna was having to shoot far-out three pointers.

Sasuke was beside himself with the joy of finally playing. His talent flooded out onto the court, swamping Suna so much that, by the end of the game, they had lost 87 – 44. The Kishimoto fans went crazy.

* * *

"Hahah, well done!" Suigetsu said, clapping Sasuke on the back as they went down the tunnel to the locker rooms. "Sorry about our misunderstanding before." 

Sasuke grinned as he punched his new friend on the arm. "Heh, not a problem. We kicked Suna's-"

"Hey, Sasuke-kun! Great job!" a new voice purred. Sasuke felt someone suddenly latch onto his arm. Suigetsu groaned.

"What are YOU doing here, four-eyes?"

"It's KARIN," Karin snapped peckishly. "What are YOU doing, freak she-man?"

"I play on this team, she-man or no," Suigetsu growled. "Now stop hitting on Sasuke, he doesn't like it."

Karin was shaken off for another reason: they had reached the door of the boy's locker rooms. She let go reluctantly.

"I'll be waiting for you, Sasuke-kun!" she called as Sasuke filed in with the rest of the ecstatic team to listen to the coach's post-game speech and shower.

* * *

True to her word, Karin was indeed there when Sasuke emerged from the locker room. She latched onto his side, following him down the hall. 

"So, Sasuke, whatcha doing tonight?" she asked. They emerged from the dome and were standing by the player entrance. To get back to the quad, they would have to get on a bus and ride back to the east campus. The dome was on the west campus.

"I've got things to do," Sasuke mumbled, trying to shake her off. But Karin wouldn't let go.

"Look, I know you're scared about the whole someone's trying to kill you thing," she said, leaning back against the dome wall, holding his arm with one hand. "But that doesn't mean you can't have fun, eh?"

"Hnn," Sasuke said, looking around for the bus he needed to take back to east campus. There was one heading to Sannin Med…one headed to downtown…crap. It would take another two minutes for a east-campus bound bus to show up.

"Why won't you look at me?" Karin pouted. Sasuke spared her an exasperated glance, adjusting the shoulder strap on his gear bag. Karin twisted her wrist, bringing his arm around so that he was forced to face her. The duffel bag fell from his shoulder.

"That's better," she said, looking up at the basketball star. She smiled coyly. "Now I can actually see your eyes."

She was getting closer…his senses told him so. And yet, for some reason, his body forbade him to move…it was like he was a camera, zooming in on her. Her lips were way too close…they met with his.

Suddenly Sasuke could take it no more. Dropping all control, he slammed Karin back into the dome wall, claiming her mouth with his. All his fury, his frustration, his anxiety came out in one huge rush as he savagely kissed his fangirl. All Sasuke wanted was to feel that feeling he felt when he kissed Sakura, that feeling of contentment, of the place where he belonged.

But no matter how he deepened his aggressive kiss, no matter how Karin wriggled happily in his arms, no matter how his hormone rush was satiated, Sasuke didn't feel what he needed, couldn't feel what he wanted. It drove him mad, he needed Sakura so badly…she could heal all this, his cherry blossom…

But even as he kissed her substitute, Sasuke heard something that made him tear himself away from Karin and look up at the bus stop. There was someone familiar there: a pink head standing nearby, looking at him. Tears filled the jade eyes as Sakura gasped in pain.

"Sakura…"

Mouthing wordlessly, Sakura gaped at Karin, who was grinning with a smug, vixeness' smile, and Sasuke, her boyfriend who had a look of utmost horror and longing on his face.

"Sakura!"

He broke into a run, trying to catch up with her, but Sakura had boarded her bus, looking at him through the window with tears running down her cheeks. The door swung shut and the bus began to pull away. Shedding his track jacket, Sasuke began to sprint after the departing vehicle.

"SAKURA!"

But no matter how fast the point guard could run, the motor in the bus was infinitely faster. Sasuke came to a halt on the sidewalk, staring after the fading red taillights of the bus that was carrying away the woman he needed.

"Given up on her?" Karin asked flirtatiously when Sasuke returned, a look of absolute shock on his face. She inched closer, obviously hoping for a repeat performance. "Smart thing, I say. Who would want a pink-haired girl like tha-"

Karin reeled away. Sasuke's hand remained where he had flung it, his eyes staring straight at the ground.

"Don't touch me."

He picked up his bag and stood over the terrified cheerleader, infinite hatred burning in his eyes. "Don't come near me again, you hag."

"B-but Sasuke-ku-"

"Don't say my name," he growled. "I don't want to see your face again."

Spinning on his heel, Sasuke marched smartly off to the east-bound bus that had just pulled up, his head reeling.

* * *

He stepped off the bus, the only one headed back for campus so late at night. Everyone else was already partying in the dorms, but this late into winter, the quad was dark and deserted. 

Or so it seemed.

Sasuke spun around as a shadow stole up out of the darkness. The faint light from the sliver of moon showed him one thing and one thing only.

His attacker had a knife!

Sasuke's hand grasped the man's wrist below the hand, holding the knife away from his body. A short tussle ensued. Sasuke winced as he felt a tough set of knuckles smack him in the eye, but he twistly smartly on the wrist he was holding and felt the man gasp as the bones snapped with a painful crack. A sharp kick hit Sasuke in the ribs, and he fell down, gasping for air. He scrabbled frantically on the ground, trying to find the knife first. The man was almost on top of him…

Sasuke's hands closed on something sharp. Ignoring the pain in his fingers as he grabbed the blade of the knife, he shoved his hand upward to defend himself.

"AAAAAARGH!"

Sasuke scrambled away as the man fell, a black shape in the moonlight. Something wet and sticky had splattered on his face, and it was leaving black prints on the ground in the moonlight…

_Please don't let it be what I think it is…please don't let it have happened!_

"What's going on out here?" One of the dorm doors opened. The silhouette in the door stopped as the beam of light thrown out from the building caught the body lying on the ground.

"MURDER! MURDER IN THE QUAD!"

* * *

**GASP! I'll leave you all with your thoughts. Oh, wait! I have some people to thank!!**

**LOOOOOOOOOONG REVIEWS! I GOT THEM, FINALLY! XD LOVE YOU ALL!!!!!**

**ihearttoast09**

**Pretzel451 (both of whom are devoted readers, might I add! Huggles for you!)**

**velcroSUNSHINE**

**angelmomo211**

**hellopanda23 (Orochi IS Michael Jackson – Jap style :P)**

**serenity uchiha **

**sasukeztruelove (I WILL make sure Sasuke sends you a kiss! Air express!)**

**THANK YOU SO MUCH TO Joey-chan22 and ihearttoast09 for teaching me how to use the funky gray lines (now called pagebreakers, thanx to toast's correction of my vocabulary! Double huggles! XD)**

**So psyched about this story! But the cursed institution known as school is eating me alive, so while I lie dying in the throes of agony, I will attempt to pen a few more chapters for you, my devoted readers. Farewell! –dies dramatically- -magically comes back to life and writes more story- **

**Rhulain**


	8. Trial and Error, With a Taste of Terror

"So, Ino-pig, you ready for this test?" Sakura asked as she poured them both a cup of coffee.

"I'm set, Sakura-chan," Ino said, taking the mug Sakura handed her. "But I'm not sure about you."

"What do you mean?" Sakura laughed. "I'm all set!"

"No – I mean emotionally," Ino said seriously. "When you got back, your mascara had run all down your cheeks! Sakura, what happened at the game?"

Sakura instantly turned snappish. "I told you, Ino, don't pry into my business!"

Ino shrugged. "Someone hurt you last night, Sakura. It's OK to talk about it, you know."

"Not yet," Sakura mumbled. She brightened up. "Let's see what's on the news before breakfast, shall we?"

Ino laughed and flipped on the TV in the dorm room the girls shared.

"_Well, last night was a rather…interesting night for the Kishimoto Shuriken, wasn't it, Jim?" _the announcer was saying. The camera switched to a view of one of the station's reporters, who, bundled and earmuffed, was standing in front of a grassy sward covered with crime tape, flashing lights, and policemen early in the chilly morning.

"_It sure was, David,"_ the reporter said. _"Last night, rookie sensation Sasuke Uchiha led the Shuriken to a remarkable 87-44 victory over the Suna Sandmen, one of the highest ranked teams in the country! But everything changed for him at the drop of a hat."_

"Um, Sakura?" Ino said, sitting gingerly on the bed. "You might want to see this."

"Huh?" Sakura emerged from the closet, in which she had been digging. A red sandal and a scarf lay in her hands. She stared at the blaring screen.

"_Last night, Mr. Uchiha was walking alone back to his dormitory when a murder took place at the Kishimoto University dorm. Residents here claim that they heard a loud scream from the quad, then a student, who wishes to be unnamed, opened the door and saw a body lying on the ground."_

"_Any clues on who or what might have caused this, Jim?"_

"_Well, David, I was talking with some of the residents this morning, and the person who was killed last night was a young man named Deidara. Apparently he was a member of the fraternity Akat Tsu Ki, whose frat house opens right onto the quad. I talked to one of the brothers today, and he was really upset about it."_

The screen flitted to a clip of a man with black spiky hair and a strange orange mask making sobbing noises into a held-out mike.

"_Deidara-senpai, he was so good to poor Tobi, yeah Uchiha had no right to kill him, none at all!"_

The screen returned to the announcer. _"The police are unwilling to say much about what's happened here, David, but between what the students are saying and what we've seen, it appears that Sasuke Uchiha has been taken into custody for questioning about the murder. Whether he was a heartless killer or an innocent bystander remains to be seen. Back to you."_

"_Thanks, Jim. And now to our sports desk for the highlights of last night's game, in which Mr. Uchiha-"_

Ino picked up the remote and turned the TV off, stepping towards her friend.

"Sakura, are you OK?"

The scarf and shoe had slipped from the motionless pink girl's hands. Her lovely face had gone pale white.

"I…I…"

"Sakura, what is it?!" Ino cried as Sakura sat down heavily on the bed, panting slightly.

"I need to go to him, Ino. Sasuke needs me. I need to go to him," she repeated.

"Sakura, you're in no condition to go anywhere," Ino said hastily. "You're pale, you look awful…"

"Sasuke needs me," Sakura pleaded, grabbing Ino's shirt and latching on. "Take me to him, PLEASE!" She broke down into dry sobs. "I…I saw him kissing…another girl last night…oh, Ino, he needs me!"

Ino knelt before her weeping friend. "Sakura, you saw Sasuke CHEATING ON YOU?!?"

Sakura nodded miserably, stubbornly repeating herself. "He needs me now, Ino. I've got to go to him."

Ino snorted. "The idiot cheated on you and you still want to be with him? Sakura, are you masochistic?!"

"Maybe I am," Sakura whispered through her fingers. "But I love him."

"You're staying here for today," Ino said firmly, wrapping a blanket around her friend. "I'll get your make-up work for you. We'll see him tomorrow."

Ino left her frozen friend in the dorm with a worried heart, wondering if what she'd done was the right thing.

* * *

Tomorrow came and went, and Sakura still had not seen Sasuke. In fact, as she found out when she went down to the county jail, the Uchiha was not allowed to receive any visitors besides family in the weeks leading up to his trial. Sakura could only hope that he was alright.

The Kishimoto Shuriken team went into a downward spiral from which it seemed they might never recover. They lost three games in a row, and nobody could blame them. To make matters worse, their other point guard, Kimimaro, had developed pneumonia which turned out to be chronic. He had resigned from the team, and the Shuriken were desperately searching for another point guard.

Finally, the day of Sasuke's trial came. A tearful Sakura, supported by Ino at one elbow and Sai at the other, took a seat in the courtroom, waiting for the judge and accused to enter.

Sasuke came in with a policeman on either side, both supporting one of his upper arms. His hands, Sakura noticed with a gasp, had been handcuffed together behind his back. Clearly, they were taking no chances with letting the defendant escape. Immediately as Sasuke came in, the media reporters who were present leapt up and began snapping pictures.

"Mr. Uchiha! Look this way!"

"Sasuke! Sasuke! Any comments on the game against Suna?!"

"How do you feel, Mr. Uchiha, knowing that your team has suffered dreadfully in your absence? Do you take personal responsibility?!"

Just then the judge came in, and everybody rose. Motioning for them all to take their seats again, the judge brought his gavel down hard on the desk. He leaned over the table and glared at Sasuke.

"Not a word from the defendant, is that clear? Your court-appointed lawyer will handle everything for you."

Beside Sakura, Sai shifted restlessly in his seat. Sakura knew that he was a law student, and as such must be excited to finally sit in on a real trial.

Sasuke managed to stay silent and still while the defense was presented to judge and jury. His panel of jurors looked friendly enough: some were even girls who obviously were admiring his looks. But then the prosecutor, wearing glasses and a frightening smile, stepped forward. And the instant he began, the scar on Sasuke's left shoulder seem to burst open. Gritting his teeth, he wormed his shoulder around until the guard there told him sharply to stay still. But the pain wasn't going away…

"…so you see from the evidence, ladies and gentlemen, that Deidara, the victim of this unfortunate mishap, was not looking for trouble. He simply happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time."

The prosecuting attorney stepped up to the defandant's box and leaned towards Sasuke, looking him straight in the eye. Sasuke grimaced, the burn in his scar growing stronger and stronger. Those eyes transfixed him: beady, weasel-like…

"I suggest, ladies and gentlemen," the prosecutor said quietly, pushing his glasses back up his nose, "that this man is a psychotic, deranged killer."

Sasuke lost it then and there.

"YOU! I'LL KILL YOU! I'LL KILL YOU!" he howled, leaping up and lunging at the prosecutor. "ITACHI, I'LL MAKE SURE YOU NEVER COME BACK!"

The prosecutor's lips twisted upward in a hint of a smirk.

"Sit DOWN, Mr. Uchiha!" the judge roared.

"THAT'S MY BROTHER!" Sasuke yelled. "_HE'S_ THE DERANGED KILLER, NOT ME! I'LL _KILL_ YOU, ITACHI!"

"SILENCE!" thundered the judge, bringing his gavel down hard. But Sasuke continued to struggle.

"YOU TRIED TO KILL ME, DIDN'T YOU?!" he raved. "I'LL KILL YOU FIRST! I'LL MURDER YOU FOR _REAL_ THIS TIME!"

"TAKE HIM AWAY!" the judge yelled over the uproar. The media had leapt up, murmuring in shock. The guards at Sasuke's arms wrestled him down the aisle and out of the courtroom, still yelling death threats at the prosecutor over his shoulder.

Itachi pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "I rest my case."

"All in favor of absolution?"

Not a hand went up in the jury.

"All in favor of conviction?"

Every single condemning hand went up. The judge's gavel came crashing down.

"The defendant is charged as guilty for the murder of Deidara Miyazawa!"

"Sakura!?" Sai and Ino cried at the same time. Sai caught her by the shoulders, easing her into his arms.

The pink-haired girl had fainted dead away.

* * *

**Apologies to all who know what a real trial is like. I've never been in one or talked to someone who has, so...yeah. This is pretty lame compared to the real thing. XD**

**REVIEW! Your villain has reappeared! REVIEEEEEEW!**


	9. Isn't This Sounding Familiar?

"Excuse me, sir. Is Mr. Uchiha allowed to have visitors?" the pink-haired girl asked softly. The secretary checked her pages.

"Yes, but close friends and family only. Are you a close friend or family?"

"I'm his girlfriend."

The secretary handed her a name tag. "Fill this out, and you can head on back. He's in detention room three, but there's already someone in there. You'll have to wait a few minutes."

As she stood outside the door with two armed guards on either side, waiting for Sasuke's current visitor to emerge, Sakura felt the tears start to well up in her jade green eyes. Sasuke had been sentenced to twenty-five years in prison for murder. After this visit, she may very well have to move on with her life.

Without him.

The door opened, and a black-haired woman emerged, crying silently into a handkerchief. Sakura sadly met the eyes of Mikoto Uchiha, the woman she had helped protect at a basketball game three years ago from her own son. The mother of Sasuke and Itachi had not forgotten. The two women stopped in front of each other.

"He- he stopped Itachi from killing me," Mikoto whispered tearfully. "I never thought he'd find it in his heart to murder someone else."

Sakura bit her lip and nodded. Mikoto tottered down the hall, handkerchief pressed to her mouth. Sakura entered the room, closing the door behind her.

There was a long table in the room, the only light coming from two suspended bulbs over either end of the table. There was a single chair, placed at the foot of the table. Someone was sitting in it, someone with black hair and dark eyes. Sasuke stood up as Sakura came in, revealing that his hands had been handcuffed in front of him. Sakura choked back tears as Sasuke looked at the floor between his feet.

"You must hate me right now," he said quietly. Sakura shook her head.

"How could I?" she choked. "You, of all people, must know that I could never…_ever..._ hate you, Sasuke-kun."

Sasuke looked up, startled, as the words loaded with forgiveness reached his ears. He stepped around the table and came up to Sakura, whose face was streaked with tears. They just stood there, simply looking at each other.

Suddenly, Sasuke bent low over Sakura. She gasped and tried to move away, but his words stayed here.

"Hush, Sakura. Pretend like I'm kissing you." His eyes, almost right on her face, were deathly serious. "There are security cameras in here, and I can't risk someone finding out."

Sakura froze, listening to every word poured into her ears.

"Sakura, the man who was killed was from a fraternity named Akat Tsu Ki," Sasuke said in barely a whisper. "Itachi was also a part of Akat Tsu Ki. I swear to you, Sakura, I SAW him in the courtroom. He's gotten a disguise, but he knew I could tell who he was. Listen, Sakura, I have enemies on campus, enemies who I think are linked to Akat Tsu Ki and Itachi. I don't have any proof, and I can't get any, stuck here in prison. But _you_ can."

Sasuke's black eyes charged her with her task. "Sakura, you're in danger, now. Itachi might come after you, since you helped put him in jail. Tell your family to get out of here, and then take a disguise. You've got to get me out of here so I can confront Itachi once and for all."

"But how?" Sakura whispered. "Where do I start?"

"Akat Tsu Ki," Sasuke hissed. "Remember the name. _Akat Tsu Ki_."

Sakura bit her lip, nodding. "I'll do whatever it takes. I won't fail you, Sasuke-kun."

This time, Sasuke gently bent down and kissed her for real. Sakura returned it with everything she had in her. It lasted only a few seconds, until the guard knocked roughly on the door behind them.

"Miss? You'll have to come out now."

Sakura flung her arms around Sasuke's neck, pulling him close for a second. He stepped back, giving her room to open the door. The man held the door open with one arm so that Sakura could leave. She cast one last glance over her shoulder at the Uchiha and left. The man holding the door nodded.

"Alright, you can come with me, now."

Sasuke complied, following the officer down to his cell.

* * *

Once back at Sannin Med, Sakura quickly found Ino and Sai and told them everything.

"So Sasuke thinks Akat Tsu Ki is behind this whole mess?" Ino said.

"It would certainly look that way," Sai pondered out loud. Sakura glared.

"Look, you two, it doesn't help me if you repeat what I told you. I need you to help me figure out a plan of action. What am I going to do?"

Ino thought carefully. "Well, I'd say you need to infilatrate Akat Tsu Ki and find out what's up in there."

"But the only way to do that is to get into the fraternity, and I'm NOT a boy!" Sakura argued. Sai's eyes flashed.

"No, but from what you told me about your high school years, you're pretty good at masquerading as one."

Sakura gaped at him. "You…you…_you want me to pretend to be a guy?!?_"

"Why not?" Ino asked cockily, lifting a strand of Sakura's hair. "It worked for you last time. Cut this shorter and lay a wig over it, and no one will notice."

"That doesn't explain how I'll get into the frat," Sakura argued. Sai looked over at her.

"We'll have to pull you out of Sannin Med and enroll you at Kishimoto, preferably in a position that will make Akat Tsu Ki notice you. If they ask you to join them, and you don't try to get in, it'll be a lot less suspicious."

"WE?!" Sakura asked icily. "I don't remember you two becoming part of this plan."

Ino tisked. "You asked us for help, Sakura, and we'll be by you all the way. Right, Sai?"

Sai nodded. "I'll enroll with you, so we can be roommates. That saves a lot of awkward questions."

"How will you manage that?" Sakura asked curiously. Sai winked at her.

"I know several…people. It'll also help with getting you onto the Shuriken."

"The SHURIKEN?!?" Ino and Sakura cried at the same time. Sai shrugged.

"Why not? From what you've told me and what I've seen, you have the talent of a point guard. And that is exactly what the Shuriken are desperate for right now. They'll recruit anyone, including a homeschooled kid who shows uncanny talent with a ball."

"Who's that?" Sakura asked curiously. Sai closed his eyes in thought.

"Sen Hitachi, rather small for a guy, and incredibly" –he opened his eyes and looked at Sakura- "ugly."

Sakura poked him in the chest. "Watch it, Sai. Just because I don't hit you doesn't mean I can't."

Ino's face began to crack into a smile. "It might work. With a bit of luck, it just might work. You get onto the basketball team, show off a bit, stay in disguise, and Akat Tsu Ki will want you in their ranks, every frat wants somebody potentially famous."

"And somebody they can manipulate." Sai looked Sakura up and down. "We'll make you look like the type that will do anything for the right price, that's why you took the point guard position. Akat Tsu Ki won't be able to resist."

Ino rubbed her hands together, picking up a pair of scissors and a lock of pink hair. "Then let's get down to business!"

* * *

**Haha! Sounding familiar? I hope to see some long reviews from you guys!**

**lol sorry it takes so long to update now, I'm right in the thick of school. You think YOU'VE got it bad, well, I'VE got it worse.**

**Speaking of which, is there anyone willing to help me write this thing? I would love some help, because I have some scenes planned out for Sasuke, but not for Sakura. So ideas and/or scenes written out will help VERY MUCH. _Otherwise_, I hate to say it, but this fic will go on hiatus and I will have to make the necessary updates to _Dragster _and _Mission One: The Poisons Master!_**

**Oh, yes - while I'm thinking of it, why don't I run a little blurb here to try and convince you guys to go read those stories?**

**Dragster: **Sakura's a drag racing queen. Sasuke's the prince trying to put together the racing team of the century to beat Neji's, Hinata's, and Gaara's. Sakura's a slave that he buys to help him win the IMPERIAL Tri-pod Stakes, the fastest race in the world. Could Sasuke be falling in love with his slave driver?

**The Black Panther:** Hello, my name is Sakura Haruno, and I'm a medical student living in a one-person apartment. Just today, I had the most interesting experience. This superhero, dressed all in black, fell into my living room right through the ceiling! And then his sidekick showed up, and both of them asked to use my apartment as a base! I've gotten to know them better, now - the peppy sidekick's name is Naruto, also known as the Ninetails. The dark, handsome one that fell through my ceiling is Sasuke, and he's the Black Panther. They're on a mission to investigate this villain called the Snake Lod. I just hope Sasuke and Naruto will be alright...

**Mission One: The Poisons Master!:** My name is Sakura Haruno, but you may know me as the Tigress. I'm a new superhero, assigned to work with the Ninetails. Ultimately, we want to save our friend, the Black Panther, who is currently under the Snake Lord's control. But first, we have to prove ourselves to ANBU. Will we defeat the Red Sand and be entrusted with the mission to retrieve the Black Panther?!?

**There ya go! Happy reading! -wink-**

**Rhulain**


	10. Itachi's Discovery

"Um, Sai, how did you manage to get me a personal tryout with the coach of the Kishimoto Shuriken?" Sakura asked nervously. "I mean, isn't he really far up?"

"I know a lot of people, _Sen,_" Sai replied. "And connections do come in handy."

"I'm nervous," Sakura admitted as they passed under the shadow of the entrance to the gym where the Shuriken practiced and approached the coach on the fourth court down.

"Just keep your cool," Sai replied. "He's the one looking for someone like you. He won't bite."

"Aah, are you Sai Aizawa and Sen Hitachi?" The coach introduced himself. As they talked, a door opened and another young man came out, shedding a track jacket.

"Sorry I'm late, Coach," Suigetsu said. "You wanted to see me?"

"Aah, Suigetsu," the coach said warmly. "Not at all, you're just in time. This is Sen Hitachi, and he's looking for a place on the Shuriken. More specifically, the point guard position."

Suigetsu looked ruffled. "A replacement for Uchiha? Is there anyone who could take his spot this late in the year?"

Sakura couldn't resist. "Uchiha and I have played before," she snarled. "If you don't think I'm good enough, just say so."

Suigetsu backed down.

The Coach threw Sakura a ball. "Loosen up a bit with that, and then we can go one-on-one against Suigetsu, here."

Sakura closed her eyes, deeply inhaling the leather smell of the ball. Even though she hadn't played since the end of high school, her muscles still remembered the moves. As though in a trance, Sakura began to dribble with her eyes closed. Back and forth, around the back, between her legs, over and over, simple patterns. She spun on a dime, muscles in perfect harmony, and shot. The ball went through with a swish.

The Coach looked impressed. "Now try that on Suigetsu."

The guard moved with an alligator's grin into a defensive stance. But he was defending nothing. Spinning around, Suigetsu watched in awe as Sakura performed a lay-up. She had blown past him in the time it took him to blink.

The rest of the affair went similarly. "Sen" quickly proved to be one of the best basketball players that the coach had ever seen. He saw them out of the gym, telling Sakura to show up for practice on Friday and thanking Sai for the lead on a new point guard. As a treat, Sai took Sakura out to dinner.

"Hahaha, here's to the Kishimoto Shuriken!" Sakura hiccupped, raising her sake glass up yet again and draining it like a pro. Sai winced.

"Shouldn't you ease up on the hard stuff, _Sen?!_"

"Ah, whatever-hic-!" Sakura said heavily, laying down the white china cup. "-hic- I'm not Sen for –hic- three more days."

Sai quickly pulled the sake bottle out of her range. "Sakura, take it easy. You're an adult, show some responsibility."

"Responsibility be –hic-!" Sakura growled. Sai winced again. If she hadn't hiccupped when he did, he was sure he and the entire bar would have been treated to a harsh expletive. "Responsibility didn't save Sasuke-kun." She leaned over and snatched the sake back, pouring herself another glass. "He –hic- was amazing. But someone –hic- had it in for him, and so –hic- he got thrown in jail. That's –hic- all there is to it." She tipped the glass back. "There's nothing anyone can do –hic- about it. There's no evidence, no –hic-!"

Sai then realized why she was drinking herself under the table. In order to staunch her fears, her doubts, and her pain over Sasuke's arrest and subsequent jailing, Sakura was drowning herself in one of the most effective painkillers of all time: alcohol. He stood up, leaving their payment on the counter.

"Come on, Sakura, let's get you home."

* * *

A general haze of smoke from banned cigarettes filled the small room. Sitting around a card table, dealing aces and playing with toothpicks for counters, were four strange-looking characters. On the wall behind them was a black banner that proudly sported a red cloud.

There was dusty creak as the floor in the corner suddenly lifted straight up! A black-haired man climbed out, dusting off his clothes. He kicked the trapdoor back into place and stepped over to the card table.

"So, Itachi, didja get him canned?" one of the card players asked nonchalantly, laying down a four and an eight.

"He's out of the way," Itachi said carelessly. "I want the satisfaction of destroying everything close to him, while he rots in jail, unable to stop it. Then I'll put him out of his misery."

One of the players, a platinum blonde, chuckled. "You're a -bleepi-ng cruel -bleep-, Itachi, you know?"

Itachi allowed a thin smile to curve around his face. "Yeah, Hidan, I know."

"So who's next on your list?" The boy who had been identified on TV as Tobi now showed his character in a whole different light.

"Hmm, well, my mother for one, but she can wait," Itachi pondered. "I need her to die of a natural cause and bequeath the fortune to me."

"A natural cause? Or a 'natural cause'?" Kakazu interjected. Itachi looked at him.

"What do you think?"

"Well, if she's -bleep-ing last on the -bleep-ing list, which -bleep- is next?" Hidan demanded, laying several toothpicks in the center.

"That girlfriend of his." Itachi threw a photo onto the table. It was the one that had been in Sasuke's dorm: he and Sakura were laughing at the camera.

"You mean the -bleep- with the -bleep-ing pink hair?!"

"She looks nice. A pretty toy, perhaps," Tobi said.

"But not much when we're through with her," Kakazu growled, flicking open a pocketknife.

Itachi leaned over the table. "Take it slow, OK, guys? It'll look suspicious if she goes too fast. Play it safe, take your time."

"Time? Time?! We've got all we need," the fourth player finally spoke. "With your brother in prison, what's to stop us now?"

"This girl's a tricky one, Pain," Itachi replied. "She might be a little slippery to catch."

"Not a problem." Pain's eyes glittered maliciously in the light from the dingy lamp. "Akat Tsu Ki has never failed once we set our minds to something."

"Sure you don't wanna join?" Kakazu motioned to the table. Itachi shook his head.

"No, Kisame and I are going to finish polishing up our fake identities. After all, two wanted criminals can't just walk into any old place, can they?"

"What was that -bleep- Kisame canned for again?" Hidan asked.

"He massacred a lot of people, didn't he, Itachi?" Tobi said. Itachi nodded.

"Yeah, and he broke out with me. You don't want to speak ill of a former Akat Tsu Ki, Hidan, or Kisame might have to come after _you_."

"Let the -bleep- try," Hidan murmured. Itachi crossed over to the trapdoor and opened it again.

"I'll see you all with the next arrangements, then?"

Pain waved a hand over his shoulder. "Go, Itachi. We've got everything covered, here."

The trapdoor closed with a click, leaving only the shuffling of cards and clicking of toothpicks to rustle in the dingy light.

* * *

Sasuke was pacing his cell, back and forth, back and forth. He had the steps memorized: ten steps wide, twelve steps deep. There was a TV blaring and a good selection of books down the hall, but the Uchiha didn't care. He kept going – back and forth, back and forth.

Suddenly, the announcer came on, saying that the Kishimoto Shuriken were about to play the Bya Kugan Juken in one of the games of the season.

_They won't win,_ Sasuke's mind said. _Kishimoto hasn't got a point guard anymore._

But he was wrong.

"The strange thing is, Kishimoto, after losing their rising star Sasuke Uchiha and junior point guard Kimimaro, has finally managed to salvage ANOTHER guard," the sports announcer said. "The coach hasn't made any prior announcements, but out there, warming up, is a FIFTH player! Let's take a look at him and his stats…"

The camera zoomed in on the gentle features and face of the new Shuriken player. Sasuke was still engrossed in his worried pacing.

"Sen Hitachi, a rather unusual find," the reporter read off his stats. "Apparently, Sen was homeschooled, but knows how to handle a ball rather well. We don't know his shooting average, but –get this- his height is 5'10. 5'10??!? What coach in their right mind puts such a short player out there?!"

"Who knows?" the other sportsman said mysteriously. "We could have another Pistol Pete on our hands. We're still waiting for the tip-off, and it's a full dome tonight, folks!"

Sasuke stopped, staring at the image of Sen Hitachi scoring a lay-up. The style…why was it bothering him? The way Sen jumped, putting all his weight on his right foot and soaring gently up to the basket…

SAKURA. The Uchiha suddenly found himself riveted to the screen. How the heck had Sakura made it onto the Kishimoto Shuriken!? Would she save him AND his basketball team, too?

The two guards on rotation passed the new kid. He was relatively quiet, with good looks and a lot of money. Too bad his older brother had gone wrong, and he was following in his footsteps. The new kid was glued to the TV in his cell, watching the Kishimoto Shuriken game, enraptured.

"Weren't you the guard for Kishimoto?" one of them called. The kid answered without looking.

"Yeah, but they've got someone else, now." He almost sounded _cheerful_ about it…

The guards shrugged at each other and continued on their rotation.

* * *

Sakura was feeling nervous, but excited. The feeling of being back on the court, ball in hand, was wonderful enough. And being in front of over a thousand screaming fans was exhilarating, too. But the men she played with!

_It's just like back at Firestone,_ Sakura tried to reason with herself. _Pretend you're a guy, and you'll do just fine._

But somehow, these big, tough, twenty-year-old players failed to spark her confidence. Sakura merely gulped as she looked at Juugo's massive height.

_Uh-oh…_

"Hey, you there," someone purred.

"Huh?" Sakura pivoted to see some girl, dressed in the skimpy cheerleader outfit of the Shuriken, gesturing in what she clearly thought was an alluring way.

"Come here," she said, leering at Sakura.

Sakura wanted to do anything but go near this girl. Fortunately, Coach blew his whistle just then.

"Huddle up!"

Karin pouted and stomped the ground with her foot as the new boy trotted away.

"Don't worry," a squad member assured her. "He'll come round and see sense eventually. You're too pretty to ignore, Karin."

* * *

The Akat Tsu Ki frat house was full of beer, loud laughter, and the clink of glasses. Lounging on the threadbare couches and lying on the floor, the Akat Tsu Ki frat boys fought tooth, nail, and claw to find a good spot to watch the game on TV.

Itachi, Kisame and Pain, as senior members of the fraternity, had immediately claimed the choicest spots. They now sat watching the game with keen interest as Kishimoto took the tip-off.

"That point guard," Pain murmured. "He's pretty good for an untried amateur."

"Sen Hitachi?" Tobi asked. "He looks like a girl."

Itachi snorted. "He looks scrawny, like this kid on a team I coached once. 'Sakumo Hayaro', he was calling himself. Turned out Sakumo was actually a girl in disguise. But I don't see how any girl could trick her way onto a college team." He stood up.

"Where are you going?" Kisame asked.

"To review those tapes we stole from Sasuke's interview with that pink-haired girl," Itachi said. "She was the one who tricked her way onto the team, and I want to make sure she hasn't got something up her sleeve."

Kisame burped. "Check all you want. There's nothing on those tapes, they just made out for three minutes straight. Strange way to say goodbye, if you ask me."

"That's only because you've never kissed a girl, Kisame," someone else called. Kisame crumpled his beer can and threw it at the speaker.

"Shut up," he growled, to raucous laughter. Smiling slightly, Itachi left the game room, settling down in a more quiet space to watch the tapes of Sasuke's interview with Sakura.

The first half a minute, Sakura and Sasuke exchanged a few words, mostly sentimentalities. Itachi snickered. They sounded so corny…like bad actors in a terribly scripted movie. And then came the strange part: Sasuke pushed Sakura back against the door and, as Kisame put it, 'made out with her for three minutes straight'. Itachi frowned. He rewound the tape and sat there, watching.

Suddenly, he hit the pause button, peering closer at the screen. The frame before him quavered, but the image it held was clear as day.

For a couple who was supposed to be kissing, it sure looked like Sakura was saying something to Sasuke. And he was talking back.

Itachi quickly grabbed the tape from another camera and stuffed it in, skipping to the exact same time. He froze the image. There: he had a side view of the supposedly kissing couple. They were close, no doubt about it, but definitely not kissing. Sasuke's mouth was open, and he was telling his girlfriend something.

The sound quality was so poor that Itachi could not make out what was said, on any of the tapes. He swore audibly.

"Kuso!"

Kisame looked up as Itachi came back in, fuming about something. "What's up?"

"Sasuke told his girlfriend something," Itachi growled. "Something important, because they didn't want anyone to see on the security tapes."

Kisame shrugged. "So what do we do about it?"

Itachi grabbed his collar, hoisting him upright. "We're going to my brother and finding out EXACTLY what he told that pink-haired girl!"

* * *

**Sorry about taking so long, but I've been working on a story of my own that I hope to get published sometime in the next two years!! XD That would be AwEsOmE!!!**

**Anyway, again, sorry about the slow updates, but I have many more important things than fanfiction in my life right now. Ciao!**

**Rhulain**


	11. Asphyxiation

"You do realize it's going to be harder to pull this off this time?" Sai asked, watching Sakura steel herself while Ino shampooed her hair. The law student was draped backwards over a chair, arms resting on its back while he watched the operation. An open box stood on the table next to Ino, its contents spread all over the table, each one marked with the words COCOA HARBOR.

"Just dying your hair isn't going to be enough to turn you into a boy," Sai continued. "There's some other things missing here, Sakura. CRITICAL things."

"You can stop right there," Sakura snapped. She was already pretty pissed, considering the sacrifice she was making by allowing Ino to dye her hair. "I'm doing the best I can, alright?"

"How are you going to get past the bathroom in the boys' dorm?" Sai demanded. "Or the locker rooms? Or the camera crews and analysts who may just pick up that there's something different about you? This isn't Firestone, Sakura."

"So what? She should just give up?" Ino said, massaging more cream into Sakura's hair. Her face was getting ugly, and she scrubbed harder.

"Ow!" Sakura protested. "Careful, Ino!"

"Sorry."

"So what do you suggest then?" Sakura demanded. "I'm already on the team, there's no way we can back out of this plan now. And rush weekend is coming up."

"Stay away from Akat Tsu Ki," said Sai. "You're already in too deep, Sakura. Don't make it any worse. You're already conspicuous enough without you having to poke around Akat Tsu Ki, too."

"But that's where the truth is!" said Sakura. "Sasuke's IN JAIL because of them, Sai. And he needs me to get to the bottom of this. Before Itachi can do something worse to him."

* * *

"What's going on? What – what the hell?" Sasuke said as they brought him into the room. "Why is he here?"

"Sit down, Mr. Uchiha," said the warden. "The lawyer for the prosecution intends to interview you for evidence during your appeal." He locked Sasuke's handcuffs to the chair and nodded at the two men. "You have fifteen minutes."

The door slammed shut.

"I don't care what you do to me, Itachi," said Sasuke, "but leave mom alone. Don't hurt her."

"Tsk, tsk, what's the magic word?" said Kisame with an ugly grin.

"Why are you worried about our mother?" Itachi said, skirting the table to touch his brother's face. "You should be more worried about yourself."

Sasuke's eyes went wide. "What-!"

Then Kisame clamped a hand over his nose and mouth.

The pressure was awful. It was like being crushed between a rock and the ocean. He twisted and jerked, bucked and even tried to bite, but it was useless. Kisame's grip was like a vise. Panic set in, shooting colored sparks across his eyes. Just when the darkness was eating at the corners of his vision, Kisame let go. Sasuke sucked in a massive rush of air, panting as the iron bands of suffocation released his ribs and mind.

"Suffocation – the perfect form of torture," said his brother. "Leaves no marks on the body, you know. And who's going to believe the word of a convicted murderer over two respectable lawyers?"

Sasuke's eyes glazed over as he fell forward over his knees, his heart still racing with fear and with the hope that comes with breathing oxygen. Then Kisame grabbed a fistful of his raven-black hair and yanked it back, forcing him to meet Itachi's merciless gaze.

"You freak," Itachi said softly. "You know, I almost liked you when we were kids. You were kind of cute, you know, and you did look up to me – enough to keep the secret about our dad's death. But this is what I hate about you. Look at you – perfect life, perfect friends, perfect girlfriend, perfect career in basketball, perfect future. The only thing in the way is your stupid convict older brother, right?"

"You know I can't believe I looked up to you," Sasuke growled through ground teeth. "Who in their right mind wants to grow up to be like a guy who murdered his own father for a fortune that he still can't get his hands on?"

He flinched as Itachi moved to strike him, but stopped his hand just before the blow. Instead of bruising him, Itachi lightly patted his younger brother's cheek.

"No marks, remember?" Itachi said. "Well this time, Sasuke, I'm going to leave my mark. I left you alone long enough. Hell, I even let you off lightly. I could have gotten rid of you as a fellow beneficiary to that fortune when you were five. Instead, I let you get off on charges of accidental manslaughter. But I don't think that's going to happen this time."

He nodded at Kisame, who clamped his hand over Sasuke's face again. This time Sasuke fought to squelch the rising panic that accompanied suffocation, knowing that Itachi couldn't, wouldn't dare kill him, not here in this jail with wardens outside that door…would he? Fear struck at his heart, and he wrenched himself forward just as Kisame let go.

"So tell me," said Itachi, bending over Sasuke as he struggled to breathe again, "where is your pink-haired sexy playtoy? And what exactly did you tell her to do?"

* * *

"OK, presenting Sen Hitachi, the Kishimoto Shuriken's new star!"

Sakura emerged from the bathroom, having donned the appropriate concealers and clothing to mask her true figure. Ino heaved a sigh.

"I'm sorry, Sakura, but you're still just so…girly."

"Hey, if it keeps that Karin freak away from me, I don't care," Sakura said indignantly.

Sai shook his head. "Sakura, this isn't going to work. You're too small."

"Hey! I'm tall for a girl! And small people matter too!" Sakura bristled indignantly.

"No, not that," Sai said impatiently. "I mean for basketball. How do you expect to play defense against six-foot-plus, two hundred and sixty pound men?"

"Oh." Sakura's face fell.

"She did well in that game against the Kubo Shinigami," Ino said defensively.

"Yeah – but only because their guard was such a poor ballhandler that it was easy for her to steal," Sai said. "If he had been taller, tougher, and faster, she wouldn't have stood a chance. You can play offense as well as any guy, Sakura, but on defense? Well, let's face it – physically, you're at a huge disadvantage."

"So what does that mean?" Sakura asked.

"It means, quite frankly, that playing for the Kishimoto Shuriken men's team is a waste of your time," Sai said. "You don't need to be doing it while you're trying to rush into Akat Tsu Ki's plan – which, by the way, I still don't approve of you doing."

"Oh shut up," said Sakura miserably. "Since when did I need your approval for anything I did?"

"Since Sasuke ended up in jail," said Sai. "You're being reckless, Sakura. Use your head, play it smart. Akat Tsu Ki is not a smart move for you – neither is exposing yourself to the potential danger of playing on the Shuriken."

Sakura shook her now-brown hair. "You've got to take risks to get things done," she said firmly. "Tell you what, Sai. I'll fall back on the Shuriken's line-up – I bet coach was about to drop me to second string anyway, considering what you said about defense. And I'll just scout out Akat Tsu Ki. I won't rush this semester. Will that make you happy?"

Sai grunted.

* * *

"Maybe we should try a different tactic," Itachi mused as Sasuke once more surfaced for air from under Kisame's massive hand. "Since the stick isn't getting you, maybe a carrot would be more effective."

"Spare me…the analogies," Sasuke groaned between gasps. Itachi smirked.

"Still trying to be smartass, eh?"

"Ha! Ass! Like a donkey!" Kisame chortled. Itachi shot him a withering glare, and he desisted. The older Uchiha walked around the back of his brother's chair and crouched down before him, meeting him eye to eye.

"Let's imagine," Itachi said silkily, "that our dear mother, my brother, was coming down the freeway, to visit you in prison, let's say. And now let's pretend that she's speeding slightly, like she tends to do when she's not paying attention and when there aren't any cops around. And now let's add a broken-down SUV on the side, waiting for her sedan to come closer, before it shoots out of the breakdown lane, strikes her on the driver's side, spins her out into the right lane of traffic and off the road into the ditch on the other side, where the sedan rolls over and over. Imagine how destroyed her little Acura would be after all that." Itachi met Sasuke's horrified gaze. "Imagine how sad it would be when, since her oldest son is dead and her younger son in prison for murder, her entire fortune is bequeathed to a long-lost Uchiha cousin."

"You couldn't," Sasuke said hoarsely. "You – nobody's that stupid, to drive into a moving car on the highway…"

"Who knows?" Itachi said carelessly. "We've got a daredevil in Akat Tsu Ki who seems to be quite lucky. That hasn't tamed his foul mouth, though, but perhaps he'd be motivated enough by a share of this long-lost cousin's fortune to risk his life."

"She's our mother!" Sasuke whispered. "My god, Itachi, she's the woman who gave birth to us…you already killed dad, I'm out of the way, why can't you just wait till Mom dies naturally?"

"Car accidents are natural," Itachi said. "They happen every day. The Konoha Bureau of Transportation estimates that one-third of all deaths among the civilian population, and almost one hundred percent of all non-disease related deaths, are caused by automobile accidents. With statistics like that, no one will think twice of a driver who didn't look twice before pulling back onto the freeway."

"Is there no pity in your heart?" Sasuke spat. Itachi glanced at Kisame, who moved once again. Itachi watched as his brother writhed under the pain of asphyxiation.

"Do I really need to answer that question?"

* * *

**OMG it's been forever since I've updated this! And it's been a while since I've been here - has all these new rules that I was like WTF to, but whatever. This one meets the criteria, anyway. :P The movement of the Naruto Shippuden story has given me much more material to work with, like new char developments, insights, etc., so I can start crafting this fic to be as crazy as Alley Oop was for the first Naruto series! (I'm also like WTF to what I was thinking earlier in the plot development with this fic. I mean Sakura on the college men's team? SERIOUSLY...and it did nothing for the plot, so I'm backing down on that.) Whateverz. Hope you enjoyed! I shall continue on the next part soon enough. Meanwhile --review! Review! REVIEW! :)) Pretty pretty please? ~Rhulain**


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